It's hard to believe how fast time goes by. Back to school is now drawing close. TwitterMoms and Airwear want to know how you ensure a healthy, safe and successful school year for your kids! The first 50 qualified participants in this fun blogging program will receive a $25 Amazon.com gift card and 3 randomly selected bloggers will receive an Airwear voucher with a redeemable value of up to $400!

But that's not all. Airwear and your fellow TwitterMom, Beth Aldrich, are sponsoring an essay contest, which encourages parents and care-givers to share how they plan to help their kids live a healthy, safe and successful school year on www.LighterSaferGreener.com. One grand prize winner will be awarded $1,000, while 10 first prize winners will receive vouchers for Airwear lenses valued up to $400! You can learn more about Airwear’s eco-friendly practices by visiting www.LighterSaferGreener.com and check out Aldrich’s tips to ensure kids have a healthy, safe and successful school year.

Here are my 10 tips:

1. Get your kid physically and psychologically prepared for school before school even starts. We all know how inertia works against getting in the mood to study. Back to school shopping can be an effective way to help your kid overcome that inertia and get excited about school life. It's also important to make sure your kid get all the medical attention he needs, such as flu shots and necessary immunizations.

2. Go over the class schedule together with you kid. It's a great way to get to know your kid's school life better and assist her to make feasible plans about the new school year.

3. Give your kid necessary safety precautions. No matter how nagging your kid might feel about you, you need to constantly remind her of safety on the road, on campus or when she's alone with strangers. Tell her, for instance, about tips or tricks to get rid of a stalker.

4. Prepare healthy meals and snacks for your kid. Carefully choose foods that are low in fat and high in fiber. Eating healthy is essential for your kid's growth and overall health.

5. Communicate with you kid's teacher on a regular basis. It's important to stay on top of how your kid performs academically and socially at school. Besides your kid, her teacher would be the best point of contact for that information.

6. Encourage your kid to take part in after school programs. This would help your kid develop her own interests and hobbies. Extracurricular activities may also broaden her scope of knowledge and turn her into a more sociable and responsible person.

7. Remind your kid to have enough water and daily servings of fruits and veggies. Kids and adults alike need to stay hydrated. Let your kid use a water bottle to monitor her water intake. Pack plenty of fruits and veggies in her lunchbox. Making her dessert colorful and cutely shaped could greatly increase her appetite for healthy food.

8. Encourage your kid to take part in team sports. Team sports may help cultivate your kid's ability to cooperate and coordinate--important skills that she will need when she enters the workforce. If she plays as the head of the team, she will also acquire considerable leadership skills and hands-on experience.

9. Establish a reading ritual and follow it with your kid. Most parents would love their kids to become little book lovers. As I said in an earlier post about summer reading tips, it's important to build a reading routine for your kid and stick to it. Synchronizing your reading time with that of your kid would significantly increase your kid's likelihood of faithfully following her reading schedule.

10. Let the kid play and relax during weekends. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Setting aside time for free play could in fact enhance your kid's performance at school and benefit her in the long run.

Now it's your turn to share tips and tricks with the rest of us!

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Airwear blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, visit http://airwear.twittermoms.com/about